Primo Levi, quarante ans d'écriture de la honte. Du sentiment de honte du détenu à la honte métaphysique du rescapé

• Authors: Lucie Bertrand-Luthereau

Title variants

EN

Primo Levi, from shame to suicide: an attempt of classification for an unbearable feeling

• Languages of publication: FR

Abstracts

EN

Shame is definitely a key notion in Primo Levi's work. In his last book, entitled The drowned and the saved, Primo Levi tries to analyze the difference between the shame he felt as a prisoner in Auschwitz, and another type of shame, which he experienced back in the free world. His attempt is way less clear than first meets the eye: it reveals the bitter struggle taking place in the depth of his identity, and leads to what could be called a destructive metaphysic of shame. This raises the question: how to read Primo Levi's masterpieces knowing they are infected by the “Auschwitz poison” which was lethal for the writer himself?

• Publisher: Uniwersytet Gdański
• Journal: Cahiers ERTA
• Year: 2017
• Issue: 11
• Pages: 231-246

Dates

published

2017-06-01

Contributors

author

Lucie Bertrand-Luthereau